SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis 

Definition

SWOT is a commonly used acronym that’s used in business. It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

These four aspects basically are used to look at your business’s resources (financial, technical, skills, etc.) and understand its weak points. This can be a general analysis to see where you stand, or you can use the SWOT chart to make business decisions based on your assessment.

SWOT is a strategic planning tool first developed in the 1960’s by Albert Humphrey, a business consultant who worked for Stanford Research Institute in California.

Why Would a Business Use SWOT in its Planning?

It is imperative that a business takes time now and again to assess itself against the competition. This is especially true when entering a new market or launching a new product and making decisions on how to market it successfully.

Doing a SWOT Analysis helps a company to assess itself honestly and effectively, as well as take stock of its competition and the industry itself.   A well-done SWOT analysis can help a company be more competitive when it comes to business decision. You’ll want a SWOT analysis that is accurate and complete to help your business make important decisions about where it currently is, and where it is going in the future.

The SWOT helps business leaders do this by examining current performance and evaluating other factors that affect the company in general.  A SWOT table will help you analyze any external factors that may affect the company in general.

You will then create a table for the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that you have identified. Once the evaluation is done, you can gain more information on your business’s capabilities and strengths. You will likely want to use a SWOT Analysis template to create your Analysis.

Using SWOT to Brainstorm

The SWOT analysis is a simple but flexible yet very simple tool that can be used in many different ways when it comes to planning. SWOT tables have been used for strategic planning, career planning and goals, marketing plans and PR campaigns. , Once you’re familiar with what SWOT is about and how it can work for you, it’s time to dig deeper and learn how to use it to brainstorm.

v Start with a problem or question to be solved. For example, if you’re a business launching a new product line, you’ll want to know what barriers to entry, if any, you may have and what unique characteristics your business can bring to the marketplace.

v Start with Strengths. Strengths can be almost anything that your business can use to its advantage when planning its strategy. You may have strong social media accounts; a large audience on Facebook, and a strong relationship with the press that can help you get media coverage. Other strengths could be your large budget, your product’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and a level of customer loyalty that will help boost sales.

v List Your Opportunities. Listing your opportunities will take some research of your competition and seeing what advantages you have over their similar products. Perhaps your competition doesn’t have an edge in the market because they rely primarily on radio and television advertising, and your product is geared toward Millennials. This could give you a sizable amount of prospective customer. Maybe your product is a cookie that uses only gluten-free, locally sourced ingredients, unlike your competitors, who only offer gluten-free cookies. Look at what the competition lacks and try to see what opportunities they are missing out on. Once you’ve completed your SWAT Analysis, you’ll be able to create a marketing plan to guide your business to success.

v Assess Your Weaknesses. Every business in the marketplace has challenges, especially when just starting out. Sometimes your weaknesses will be that you’re a one man or one-woman operation, operating on a shoestring budget. Maybe you are unable to produce your product on a massive scale and will require special niche marketing to reach your customers. Maybe your social media accounts, such as Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus need more followers and interactions for them to truly give you a return on investment. Be honest when assessing weaknesses; a savvy business owner knows that one man’s weakness is another man’s opportunity. Think about how you can turn your weaknesses into an advantage. Maybe you can find a stronger customer base by going hyper-local with your marketing efforts and attending events? Perhaps there’s room on your staff for an intern to help with your social media accounts. By accurately assessing your weaknesses, you’ll know what you need to improve e, and often you can begin taking steps to change this right away.

 What’s The Easiest Way to Start a SWOT Analysis?

One of the simplest and most traditional approaches to completing a SWOT Analysis is to use a table or grid to map each talking point.  Make a grid for each topic — one each for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and weaknesses. Then list the relevant factors beneath its respective heading. You don’t need to write anything out in long-form unless you want to. Don’t worry about complete sentences – just get the main points down. If you feel anything needs additional explanation for a presentation or other people on your team, you can create a summary paragraph that describes each point in more details.

Make sure you take the time to download your SWOT Analysis template on this page. You can use it to get brainstorming right away!

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